Mr Daniel Mutanda

Daniel is a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded researcher. He joined the School for Public Health Environments Research at Exeter (SPHERE) department as an NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) Pre-doctoral Fellow. He is now a Co-Principal Investigator for the Qualitative case study and evaluability assessment of Local Authority Cities of Sanctuary, Public Involvement and Engagement Lead for the NIHR Public Health Review Team, Co-Chair of the SPHR Research Network, and an researcher on the Voluntary Sector Evaluation Scheme (VoySES).

He is also a PhD candidate investigating how to develop youth voice in mental health impact assessments of urban policy, supervised by Prof G.J. Melendez-Torres, Prof Conny Guell, and Dr Kirsten Liabo.

Before Exeter, he worked as a researcher at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where he collaborated across eight research clinics to evaluate the latest psychological interventions and help bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. 

He has varied research experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, co-production, systems thinking, and evidence synthesis. He has worked across rapid evaluations and community-based projects to understand and address health inequalities in partnership with local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, and underserved populations.

Beyond academia, Daniel is a campaigner for the rights of displaced people to education, holding national and international positions in advocacy-focused organisations. He has worked with policymakers at the House of Lords and delivered interventions at national and international conferences with UNHCR and UNESCO. He is a member of the national Universities of Sanctuary steering group, the Student Action for Refugees (STAR) Equal Access Advocates group, and a global leader with the Tertiary Refugee Student Network (TRSN).